It is common to treat the surfaces of leather, textiles, and other substrates to impart added desirable properties thereto, such as oil and water repellency and resistance to dry or oily soil. A number of fluorochemical compositions have been proposed for such treatment and several are commercially used for that purpose, such as those sold under the tradename "Scotchgard." Various patents and publications disclose a variety of such compositions for various uses, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,462,296 (Raynolds et al.), 3,484,281 (Guenthner et al.), 3,816,167 (Schultz et al.), 3,944,527 (McCown), 4,024,178 (Landucci), 4,190,545 (Marshall et al.), 4,215,205 (Landucci) and 4,426,476 (Chang), Japanese published patent application (Kokai) No. 81-49081, and Banks, R. E., Ed., "Organofluorine Chemicals and their Industrial Applications," pages 226-230 (Ellis Harwood, Ltd., West Sussex, England, 1979). Also various patents disclose carpet treating compositions containing, inter alia, various fluorochemicals, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,923,715 (Dettre et al.), 4,043,964 (Sherman et al.), 4,107,055 (Sukornick et al.), 4,264,484 (Patel), Re 30,337 (Loudas), 4,388,372 (Champaneria) and 4,325,857 (Champaneria). Also various patents and publications disclose the use of fluorochemical compositions on leather, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,190 (Lina et al.), 4,782,175, (Wehowsky et al.), 4,778,915 (Lina et al), 4,539,006 (Langford), 3,923,715 (Dettre et al.), 4,709,074 (Bathelt et al.) and L. Schlosser "Eigenschaften fluororganischer Verbindungen und ihre Anwendung auf dem Ledergebiet," DAS LEDER, 41 Jahrgang August 1990, pages 149-153.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,715 (Dettre et al.) describes an aqueous dispersion containing at least 5 weight percent of a perfluoroalkyl ester made from a fluorinated alcohol and a mono- or polycarboxylic acid which contains 3 to 30 carbon atoms. The dispersion is applied to textile fibers in order to insure dry soil resistance and non-flame propagating characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,476 (Chang et al.) relates to a textile treatment composition containing water-insoluble fluoroaliphatic radical and aliphatic chlorine-containing ester and water-insoluble fluoroaliphatic radical-containing polymer. The ester is prepared by reacting a fluoroaliphatic chlorine-containing alcohol with a mono or polycarboxylic acid. The mono or polycarboxylic acids include acids up to 18 carbon atoms e.g. decanoic acid, tridecanedioic acid, linoleic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,006 (Langford) relates to a composition useful for treating leather, textiles and cellulosic materials to impart water- and oil-repellency thereto. The composition contains a fluorochemical compound having a fluoroaliphatic moiety, an aliphatic moiety and an organic group which connects the fluoroaliphatic moiety and the aliphatic moiety. The composition can be prepared by, inter alia, reacting a fluoroaliphatic alcohol with a fatty acid. Useful acids contain 5 to 36 carbon atoms. Representative examples of fatty acids are linseed fatty acid, linolenic acid, oleostearic acid, ricinoleic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, sorbic acid, and dimer acids. The fatty acids have at least one to three unsaturated sites, and more if available. In Example 11 of this patent, the dimer acids are reacted with a perfluoroaliphatic alcohol in a ratio of 0.5 equivalent dimer acid to 0.25 equivalent alcohol [thus, the acid is not fully esterified].
Although the above-mentioned fluorochemical compositions are useful to various degrees in treating various substrates such as textile, carpet, leather, and paper, and many are commercial products, some are ineffective under normal use conditions that impart abrasive wear to the treated substrate, some provide insufficient oil or water repellency on the treated substrates, and some require high (and therefore economically undesirable) application treatment rates to obtain sufficient oil or water repellency on the treated substrates. Some fluorochemical compositions have an adverse effect on the appearance and feel or "hand" of the treated substrates.